Paradox
by Fiones
Summary: Bakura Ryou was always an average student, until his family had to move constantly. His luck might change when he begins school at Domino High and finds himself sitting next to boy genius, Atemu Yami.
1. Prologue

**Title:** Paradox  
**Author:** Alice  
**Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh!  
**Spoilers:** None since this is AU!  
**Pairings: **Yami no Yuugi x Bakura Ryou. Side Jounouchi Katsuya x Mazaki Anzu and possibly others.  
**Summary:** Bakura Ryou was always an average student, until his mother got a new job that required their family to move constantly. As a result, Bakura fell behind. His luck might change when he begins school at Domino High and finds himself sitting next to boy genius, Atemu Yami.  
**Part:** 1?  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** Shounen-ai and language.  
**Recommended Listening:** None.  
**Disclaimer:** Yu-Gi-Oh! Is not owned by me. Unfortunately.  
**Author's Notes: **Most of the information concerning how schools are run in Japan is based mostly on what I gathered from reading the Yuugiou manga, so there may be a lot of mistakes. I apologize now for that. And 'Ryou' will be referred to as Bakura, except by his parents. On that note, I decided to be nice to Bakura and have it so only Amane died when he was younger but his mother's still alive. Oh, and…HONORIFICS ARE THE SPAWN OF SATAN AND I HATE THEM AND GUH. They will not be used in this fic.

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**Paradox  
**by Alice M.

**_PROLOGUE_**

Almost all the lights in the small apartment were out, as expected at that time of night. The dark rooms seemed to be a bit brighter, though, without any furniture to cast more shadows upon the walls and floors. A bit of light was shed on the white walls, filtering from the slightly opened door down the hall. This light was the only one on in the apartment and they only sounds came from behind that door. The sounds of someone scurrying around in a hurry could be heard quite clearly. That person was a young boy, about sixteen years of age, moving quickly around his room, making sure that all his belongings were good and packed in the proper place. His long white hair that fell to around his mid-back was pulled back into a ponytail to keep from obscuring his vision or getting caught in his suitcase (an incident that had happened more than once). The boy was clad in a plain white tee shirt and blue jeans, having packed all his pajamas already and not feeling the burning desire to track them down again.

Once the boy was sure everything was packed and in the proper place, he plopped down onto the sleeping mat placed out for him and surveyed his empty room one last time. Save for himself, the sleeping mat and the suitcase propped on the wall next to the door, everything in his room was gone. Everything was already in their proper boxes but Bakura Ryou was a thorough person and had wanted to double check one final time. He hated the thought he might forget something. Tomorrow the Bakura family would once more be moving away, for the fourth time in two years, to a city called Domino. Bakura was sure, however, that this was the last time they'd be moving for quite some time. His mother's job required the family to move often but she had recently spoken to her boss and made him promise to not relocate her until Bakura at least graduated high school in another year. This was a great comfort to Bakura as the last two years in high school had been a living nightmare, going to a new school halfway through each year. The thought that he'd be able to finish this year and all of next year at the same school without moving was a relief.

Bakura was pulled from his inner musings from the sound of someone knocking on his door. The boy propped himself up on his elbows and glanced at the door with his pale green eyes. "Come in," he called.

A man who appeared to be in his mid thirties pushed open the door and stepped into the room, smiling gently down at his son. Bakura shot him a smile as the man moved further into the room and seated himself on the edge on the Bakura's sleeping mat. "So," Bakura Yoshiyuki began, reaching out and placing a pale hand on his son's white hair, "are you nervous about next week? Or tomorrow even?"

Bakura shook his head. "No…not particularly. I'm used to it by now, moving, starting new schools. But," he broke off her and bit his lower lip a bit, "it is a tad more stressful this time 'round seeing as this time I'll be starting a school I know I'll be at for more that a few months. So I suppose I really have to try hard here to do well and make friends."

Bakura's father nodded slowly, patting his son lightly on the head. A smile tugged at the edge of his lips. "Of course you'll have to try to make friends! You'll be going here for the rest of your high school education. And as for trying hard in school…Well, you'll just have to work hard to catch up. You have fallen a bit behind…"

A sigh escaped the young boy's lips and he stared determinedly down into his clasped, pale hands settled in his lap. "I have fallen behind. But I promise I'll do my best to catch up." Bakura raised his eyes and flashed a smile at his father. "Just like I promised you and mother."

"And Amane," his father added, though he knew that Bakura already knew that the promise was more to her than anyone else. But Bakura rarely said his sister's name aloud.

A fond smile made it's way to Bakura's lips and he nodded. "Yes…and Amane. You know, I'm rather looking forward to moving to Domino. It should be interesting…and I've heard that it's got good schools. Domino High – that is where I'm going, right – is said to be one of the best in the city. I looked it up online at the library."

His father nodded. "That's what I heard as well and yes, Domino High is where you will be going. And I do hope you like it there. I hope we all like it there…we may be there for awhile."

"Until I finish high school."

Bakura watched as his father did something the boy hardly ever saw him do: he bit his lower lip in a nervous manner. "It…may even be longer than that. Depending on your mother…" He didn't have to finish. Bakura understood. He nodded, slowly, letting his father know he understood and would help out as much as necessary. "Ryou, things may get a lot more difficult for us over the next year or so. You know your mother is not doing so well…"

"I know," Bakura said softly, raising a hand and placing it comfortingly on his father's shoulder. "I know." He gave the older man a comforting smile and a small squeeze. This was a typical routine for them, to sit alone and comfort each other, give each other encouraging words and think about how bright they hoped the future would be and try not to think of how dark the reality was. Bakura was always considered by his parents to be the best form of comfort they'd ever found. Just his presence was enough for both his father and mother to be relaxed or comforted from whatever ailed them at a given moment. Especially since Amane passed away.

"Ryou, a son should not have to comfort his father," Bakura's father said with a sad smile. This was also part of their routine, that phrase. Both of them knew that it wasn't completely true. While they both knew that Bakura, at his age, shouldn't have to worry about the problems of adults and should have been enjoying his time as a teenager as fully as he could, both father and son knew that this was not going to happen. Bakura had experienced two great loses at such a young age and had become accustomed to having to comfort others through their distress while ignoring his own sadness. But then, it was never really so bad in the end. Bakura comforted his father and mother, and in turn they comforted him when the stress of being the family's lifeline became too great. They depended on each other to survive and it had been that way for many years and none of them were all too keen on having that way of life disrupted.

They remained in silence for a few minutes more before Bakura's father stood slowly and smiled down at him. "Get some sleep, Ryou. The movers will be here quite early and we probably won't finish moving into the new flat until nightfall. And even then, I doubt we'll have moved everything in."

Bakura nodded and bid his father good night. Once his father had left and he was sure the man was out of earshot, Bakura stood and hurried over to his suitcase. He knelt down in front of it and opened it swiftly and began rummaging through it. He quickly found what he had been looking for as he had purposefully left it in easy reach. A piece of paper and a pen were extracted from the suitcase before Bakura closed it back up and headed back to lie down on his stomach on the sleeping mat. He laid the piece of paper out in front of him and tapped it idly with the ballpoint of his pen for a few moments, deep in thought. Bakura didn't need much time to sort out his thoughts and he soon began writing.

_My Dear Amane, _

Well, as I said in my last letter, the family's moving again but this time we're staying for good. We're moving to a city called Domino. It's a fairly large city a bit closer to Tokyo. I haven't had time to write to you mostly because I've been too busy packing. Sorry! We leave tomorrow morning so I thought I'd write to you know, just so you know where I've been and why I haven't been in touch.

So how have you been? Anything new happening over there? Besides us preparing to move, things over here have been pretty uneventful. Well, mostly. Mother might lose her job soon, I'm afraid. It's getting harder and harder for her to move about. I've mixed feelings about the situation with her job because, while I'd hate for her to lose her job because I know she loves it so much, I'm also looking forward to it a bit. It would be a big change but it would mean we'd have to stop moving. We're only staying in Domino until I graduate but after that, if mother still works there, we might have to move again. But I'm also sad because, well…she's doing worse, obviously. But I think she'll be all right, at least for now. I guess we'll just have to see, I suppose.

I'm a bit worried about going to this new school. My last report from my teachers at my last school said that I was falling a bit further behind, especially in mathematics. What if they are even further into the curriculum at this new school? Oh dear, if I get any further behind I might fail! It's so…stressful. I really don't know what to do. I think I can manage to catch up in most of my classes but blasted math and science! I've always had a bit of trouble in those classes, if you remember. Mother suggested tutoring but I'm not so sure… The last time I had a tutor was horrible. She couldn't explain things in a way that I could easily understand. She just stuffed books and notes under my nose and told me to memorize it without telling me what on Earth it was I was even looking at! I don't know if I could handle that again. But I do need to do something, I can't fail. But what can I do, Amane? I'm so confused.

Well, tomorrow is the day and father says I should get some sleep. You should too. So that's all for now, sister dear. I promise I'll write to you again once we're settled into the new place. Father says it's bigger than this apartment and this place is rather large as it is! It's quite exciting. Hope to hear from you soon.

Your brother,  
Ryou

**end prologue**

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My birthday is tomorrow! That makes me happy. Hopefully I'll have time to work on chapter one. But as a sort of present to me, do you think you could drop a review? I hope so.

**Chapter one: **Bakura starts at Domino High and meets some new people.

Alice


	2. Chapter One

**Title:** Paradox  
**Author:** Alice  
**Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh!  
**Spoilers:** None since this is AU!  
**Pairings: **Yami no Yuugi x Bakura Ryou. Side Jounouchi Katsuya x Mazaki Anzu and possibly others.  
**Summary:** Bakura Ryou was always an average student, until his mother got a new job that required their family to move constantly. As a result, Bakura fell behind. His luck might change when he begins school at Domino High and finds himself sitting next to boy genius, Atemu Yami.  
**Part:** 2?  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** Shounen-ai and language.  
**Recommended Listening:** None.  
**Disclaimer:** Yu-Gi-Oh! Is not owned by me. Unfortunately.  
**Author's Notes: **On the first day of being posted, the prologue got four longish reviews. ; To say the least, I was thrilled. It helped brighten my pretty unhappy birthday. XD So I thought I'd bring you chapter one as quick as possible in thanks! And thanks for all the birthday wishes!

* * *

**Paradox  
**by Alice M.

**_CHAPTER ONE_**

Moving into the new flat had been a surprisingly quick process, at least compared to previous times they had moved that had taken up to a month or more. By the end of the first day, most of the furniture had been properly organized and they had begun to unpack most of their belongings. By the end of the week they had, for the most part, completely settled in. There were only a few pictures that needed to be hung and a few utensils for the kitchen that needed to be put away. Very speedy process indeed. Bakura also had to admit that their new place was possibly one of the more comfortable places they'd lived in. It was larger than many of their previous apartments and quite…simple and nice. They also had nice neighbors in the rooms around them, mostly people in their late twenties, but there were a few older couples with kids around. There were no kids Bakura's age but that didn't particularly bother him. He was used to being the only teenager around.

But this second week in Domino was going to prove to be the difficult part of the move. This was the week Bakura Ryou began school at Domino High. The previous Friday, his father had taken him to the school and he had been given all his necessities – his school uniform and such. He had then been taken on the grand tour by one of the members of the student council, a nice young girl named Aoi Kisara. Miss Kisara – as she apparently hated her last name and preferred people call her by her first – had showed him around the fairly large school a few times, specifically showing him how to get to his classroom. He was sure that he wouldn't get too lost on the first day. Or at least, he hoped not.

And so on the bright Monday morning the week after the Bakura family had moved to Domino City, Bakura found himself staring angrily at his reflection in the wall mirror hanging from the back of his door in his new room. His eyes were boring into his own reflection, apparently with the intention of shooting out laser beams and completely eliminating the hideous blue Domino High uniform. Now, Bakura had worn many a school uniform, most of which were quite ugly…but the Domino uniform was the worst. And it was so uncomfortable! Bakura was sure that the school had given him a uniform that was at least two sizes too small.

But there was no time to complain for Bakura's father was already calling him to get a move on. So, with a bitter look on his face, Bakura grabbed his back, swung it over his shoulder and headed off to his first day at Domino High.

The ride from the apartment to the school was a familiar blur to Bakura. It consisted mainly of Bakura's father telling him over and over not to be nervous and that everything would be all right and Bakura would nod and say that he knew everything would be fine and that his father needn't worry. It wasn't long before Bakura was making his way through the crowded halls of Domino High, following the path he was sure Kisara had told him to follow in order to reach his class. And of course, because Bakura's listening skills when it came to getting directions were unmatched, he found his way their in no time at all. Once he was inside the classroom, Bakura cast a glance over the small crowd of students already congregated there. He moved in and stood next to the doorway, awkwardly, and waited several minutes before the teacher came in and called for the classes attention.

"Class, take your seats, take your seats!" the woman called as she entered, completely ignoring Bakura. "Come on, settle down now. Class has started." The small group of students hurriedly made their way to their respective seats while the teacher moved to stand behind her desk, leaving Bakura standing quite alone and blushing from embarrassment. It wasn't until all the students were seated and quiet that the teacher finally noticed Bakura standing there and turned to give him a smile. "Oh, you must be the new boy! Bakura Ryou, correct?" Bakura nodded. The lady beamed. "I'm Ms. Chono, your homeroom teacher and your history teacher. Would you like to come introduce yourself to the class?"

Bakura shook his head fiercely. The idea of standing up in front of a group of students he didn't know and introducing himself was never a concept Bakura particularly liked. Ms. Chono gave him an understanding smile. "Alright then, let's find you a seat. Um…back there, next to Mr. Atemu. On the far left, in the very back. Yes, that's it."

Bakura quickly moved to the seat Ms. Chono had indicated and settled down comfortably. Once he was settled, he turned to glance at the boy sitting next to him. The boy was staring straight ahead, sitting with his back straight against his seat. A set of black-rimmed glasses was perched upon his nose, hiding behind them deep crimson eyes. He had sharp, angular features that seemed to fit his posture perfectly. The most unusual thing about him, however, was his spiky hair. Gold bangs fell to halo his face, while jet-black hair mixed with gold spiked in an unusually star-shaped manner. The boy – named Atemu or something, wasn't he? – paid no attention to Bakura whatsoever.

Other than the boy's strange hair and eyes, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary about him. Until class started, at which point Bakura was horrified to learn that most of the subjects they were reviewing hadn't even been covered in his old school. He was even more horrified when, only about fifteen minutes into the first class, Bakura looked over to see that the boy had already finished his work and was reading a large book, not paying attention to anything around him. And Bakura's hopes of living up his promise to Amane seemed to fly out the window.

The next several classes proceeded in the same manner. Bakura had no clue what was going on and would be working up until the last minute before the bell rang and the teachers switched rooms, while the boy sitting next to him would be finished first and would spend most of the class reading. This cycle continued on until Bakura was salvaged the horror of the classroom by the bell announcing lunch.

The cafeteria in Domino High was large, much like the school building itself. Bakura saved himself the terror of standing in line for food by packing his own lunch and he quickly found a seat at an empty table and began to eat, pondering over the situation he was in. In all the classes he had been in thus far, he had had no clear idea what was going on. His previous school hadn't even gotten close to covering the topics they were currently discussing. So Bakura was in one very sticky predicament. Fail or fail? His options were looking all that bright.

"Hi there!" came a voice from behind him. Bakura nearly jumped a foot in the air. He turned, clutching his chest, to look at the person who had managed to startle him. If was a boy a bit smaller than the one who he sat next to in class, with similar hair and all. His features weren't nearly as sharp and his eyes were larger, amethyst in color. He also lacked the extra spikes of gold mixed in with the black parts of his hair. Even still, the similarities between the two were almost frightening and Bakura was sure the two were probably related in some way. "Mind I sit here?" the boy asked politely. Bakura nodded his consent, not trusting his voice.

The boy smiled at him before sliding down onto the bench next to Bakura, placing his lunch down in front of him. He turned to Bakura and offered his hand. "I'm Mutou Yuugi. I'm in your class. Nice to meet you!"

Bakura blinked at the boy, taking his hand awkwardly. "Um…Mutou Yuugi? You sit towards the front, right?"

The boy nodded. "Yep, that's me. And just call me Yuugi, please. And you're Bakura Ryou, right?"

Now it was Bakura's turn to nod. "Um, yes, I am. I just moved here."

Yuugi offered Bakura a wide smile. "Well, Bakura, welcome to Domino! I've lived here my whole life so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!"

A smile crossed Bakura's lips as well and he once more nodded. "Thank you for the welcome! And, actually, I do have a question. That boy that I sit next to in class…who is he?"

A strange look crossed Yuugi's face for a moment and then he offered Bakura and apologetic look. "Oh, that's Atemu Yami. He's the schools genius boy."

"Genius boy?"

Yuugi nodded. "Yep, that boys the smartest in our class, possibly our whole school! But he's so quiet, it's weird. He knows so much but he never raises his hand and the teachers never call on him or anything! And he doesn't speak to anyone. I sat next to him all last year and I didn't hear him say one word the entire year!"

Bakura blinked at Yuugi, a bit surprised. "Not once? That's…is he mute maybe? And if he's really so smart then why is he in all standard level classes?"

Yuugi shrugged, taking a bite out of his apple. "Mute? I don't know about that, I doubt it. As for why he's in standard, no one really knows. He's been offered to move up into advanced courses, he was even offered the chance to skips grades, but he always turned them down. Jounouchi says he thinks it's because he's stuck up and wants to be able to look down on us, but I'm not so sure about that. Like I said, he doesn't talk so it'd kinda be pointless."

Bakura blinked, absorbing all this information. "That's…odd. And you two aren't related, then? You look like you could be brothers!"

Yuugi shook his head, smiling a little. "Nope, not to my knowledge. No blood relation at all. Quite a few people have thought that before. It's a pretty common mistake at our school."

"Hey Yuugi, what are you doing over here?"

Bakura and Yuugi both turned to see three people making their way towards them. At the head of the small group was a boy with a goof look about him with a head full of blonde hair. Behind him was a brunet boy who kept shooting muttering to himself about stupid nephews or something to that general effect. And last in the group was a girl, quite pretty in fact, with short brunette hair and bright blue eyes. The blonde boy it seemed was the one who called out to Yuugi.

Yuugi smiled and waved to them, beckoning them over. "Whatcha doing over here, Yuugi?" the blonde asked again, taking a seat on the opposite side of Yuugi. The brunet boy sat down on his right, the girl sitting down last. All three of them stared at Yuugi and none of them seemed to notice Bakura. All of them, it seemed, except Yuugi.

"I was introducing myself to the new kid here, Bakura. Bakura, these are my friends! Jounouchi Katsuya," the blonde boy nodded in Bakura's direction, "Honda Hiroto," the brunet waved, "and Mazaki Anzu."

"Just Anzu, actually," said the girl, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Bakura!"

Bakura nodded mutely at these three new people, at a loss of what to do. He wasn't used to having people crowded around him, let alone speaking directly to him. "Um…hello. Nice to meet you all…"

Jounouchi gave Bakura a strange look for a moment before he broke out in a broad grin. "Hey, aren't you sitting next to Atemu in class?" Bakura nodded slowly. "Haha, this is great! Now we have someone sitting next to him! Oh, Bakura, you have to keep talking to him just to annoy him! I sat next to him two years ago and oh, man, the faces he'd make if you bothered him! Priceless."

"Um, I'd rather not…" Bakura muttered, sheepishly, not meeting the other boy's eyes.

"Oh, let him be, Jounouchi!" said Anzu irritably, leaning around Honda to give Jounouchi a good whack on the back of the head. "He just got here! The last thing he needs is to get people angry at him on his first day!"

"Ow! Alright, sheesh. Okay, Bakura, wait a week _and then _annoy the shit outta him!"

Honda let out a laugh as Anzu once more leaned around the table to give Jounouchi another whack on the head. Yuugi shook his head, bemused. From the looks of it, this was a common exchange between the blonde and brunette. Bakura could do nothing but watch as Jounouchi went on to tell Anzu that she needed to lay off the weight lifting, which didn't draw the best of responses from Anzu. It soon became a full on arm wrestling match between the two – Honda had to leap up and move to sit on Bakura's other side in order to not be sandwiched between the two – and Anzu, proudly, won. As all this went on, Yuugi tried to calm to Jounouchi down, who was infuriated at being beaten by a girl. Honda just watched the exchange, amused, before suddenly turning to Bakura and with a smile said, "Well, welcome to Domino High, Bakura."

**_end chapter one  
_**

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I'm actually quite pleased with this chapter. Yuugi, Jounouchi, Honda and Anzu…I tried to keep all of them as in character as I could and hopefully I did a good job in the little bit they were in. Atemu, obviously, made his first appearance but didn't say anything…we'll see how long that last. XP There was also reference made to Kisara…whether she will have a bigger part later on is yet to be seen. For those who don't know, Ms. Chono is based off of Ms. Chono from the first/second volume of manga. She was their teacher in that. And that's basically it for now. Leave me more reviews! They make me very happy, especially well written long reviews. Thanks to those who left a review to the prologue and I hope this chapter satisfied your need for me a bit.

**Chapter Two: **What's this? Atemu can speak! Stop the presses, this will make headlines! ATEMU SPEAKS!

Alice


	3. Chapter Two

**Title:** Paradox  
**Author:** Alice  
**Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh!  
**Spoilers:** None since this is AU!  
**Pairings: **Yami no Yuugi x Bakura Ryou. Side Jounouchi Katsuya x Mazaki Anzu and possibly others.  
**Summary:** Bakura Ryou was always an average student, until his mother got a new job that required their family to move constantly. As a result, Bakura fell behind. His luck might change when he begins school at Domino High and finds himself sitting next to boy genius, Atemu Yami.  
**Part:** 3?  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** Shounen-ai and language.  
**Recommended Listening:** None.  
**Disclaimer:** Yu-Gi-Oh! Is not owned by me. Unfortunately.  
**Author's Notes: **Oooh, encouragement! I was overjoyed to see most people believed I'd gotten the gang in character. You have no idea how happy that makes me feel. Now, the beginning of this chapter is a flashback and, though it may not seem like that big of a deal now, it will mean more later. Just keep that in mind.

* * *

**Paradox  
**by Alice

_**Chapter Two** _

**Twelve Years Ago**  
Life for a four-year old is confusing. Things go on and people say things that you simply don't understand. So when four-year old Bakura Ryou's mother started screaming and clutching her swelled belly and his father had to drive the three of them over to the hospital as quick as possible, poor Bakura was very confused. But he didn't argue at all. He got into the car, remained perfectly silent while his father tried to comfort his mother from the front seat. He had no objection when his father rushed into the hospital, put his mother in a wheelchair and let a nurse rush her away. And he most certainly did as his father told him when he put set him onto a seat in the waiting room, next to another boy who was alone as well, and told him to stay there and then rushed out. Instead, young Bakura simply sat there for a long time before finally, his small mind could not take not talking to someone and he turned to the boy sitting next to him.

The boy looked to be about the same age as Bakura, maybe even a bit older. He had crystal blue eyes and short cropped brown hair. He seemed quite pale and was staring ahead, looking a bit distressed. "Hello," Bakura said to him, cheerfully. The boy shot him a surprised look but did not answer. After a moment Bakura tried again. "My name's Bakura, you?" No response. After yet another minute of staring at the boy, who stared right back, Bakura asked, "So…why are you here?"

A strange look crossed the boy's face then, one that seemed to be a mixture of sadness and…was that fear? He once again didn't respond and Bakura was about ready to give up on him when finally he spoke. "My cousin is sick…" he said quietly, glancing off down the hall.

Bakura's mouth formed a perfect 'O' at that and he gave the boy a sad look. "Really? What's wrong with him? …Or her?"

The boy sighed and ran a hand through his short hair, still staring down the hall. "Him. And…I don't know. No one knows, I think…"

Bakura nodded. "That's really sad."

"Yeah…" the boy said, not turning to look at Bakura. "Yeah, it is sad…and what about you? Why are you here?"

"My mommy started having pains in her tummy or something. She's gotten really big recently so I think it probably had something to do with that…" Bakura explained matter-of-factly. At this the boy finally turned to face Bakura, a curious expression written across his face.

"Your mother is having a baby?" he asked, curious.

Bakura blinked at him for a moment, tilting his head to the side. "Is she? I don't know…maybe. Is that what happens when your mommy gets large?"

"Sometimes, yes. My mother is having a baby soon as well and she's gotten quite large." Bakura giggled a bit and the boy eyed him strangely. "What?"

"You talk funny."

"Do I?" the poor boy asked, looking quite confused by now.

Bakura nodded. "Yeah. You talk kinda like a grown-up."

The boy blinked at him before smiling a bit sheepishly. "Yeah, well, I haven't been around many kids my age…except my cousin, that is. So I guess I kinda picked up more adult talking habits. Why? Is that bad, do you think?"

Bakura shook his head, giggling a little. "No, no, it's fine! It makes you sound more…older. Yeah, that's it! It makes you sound older! Does your cousin speak like that too?"

A pained look crossed the boys face but he shrugged it off quickly. "Um, yeah. We both do. We both spend most of our time around adults…neither of us spend any time around kids our own age. Especially…" he turned once again to look down the hall sadly, "lately."

Bakura opened his mouth to reply but he never got the chance as at that moment his father, with tears in his eyes, came down the hallway towards him. Bakura watched as his father knelt down in front of him and took his small hands into his larger ones and smiled up at him. "Ryou," he said, his voice a bit shaky, "I want you to come with me. There's someone I want you to meet…" Bakura nodded at his father, hopping down off his seat and following as his father lead him away. Before they got too far, however, he turned and waved at the boy he had been talking to. The boy nodded to him but seemed to lost in his own thoughts, still staring down the hall sadly. As his father lead Bakura to see this new person who would become such a big part of Bakura's life, he couldn't help but hope that everything would turn out alright for that boy and his sick cousin. Even though deep down he doubted he'd ever see him again.

**Present Time  
**The first two weeks at Domino High were quite lovely by Bakura's standards. He was still struggling to catch up but he was slowly progressing, in all classes except for mathematics. Those damn numbers and letters were still confusing to him, as they had always been.

But aside from his typical academic issues, Bakura was thrilled to have found very good friends in Yuugi, Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu. Since that first day they had quickly sucked Bakura into their group of friends and by the end of the first week, Honda had even gone so far as to say it felt as though Bakura had been with them forever. Bakura, oddly, had to agree. The group had been very interested in hearing about all the different places Bakura had lived, all the people he had seen and Bakura had quite a lot of fun telling them. It was a great feeling to have friends after having had no one but his parents and his memories to look too, and Bakura even told the others so. They just smiled at him. Later that second week, Yuugi had even invited Bakura over to his family's game shop to play some games with them, and though Bakura had to decline seeing as that was the day he and his father were supposed to help his mother move into her new office, he was thrilled that he had been asked all the same. On schools days they all sat together during lunch break and Jounouchi would ask Bakura random questions about his past. And on this particular Monday morning, the routine was no different.

"Sooooo, Bakura! Did you have any girlfriends at your old schools?"

This earned Jounouchi a horrified look from Bakura. When he tried to speak he found himself stuttering, so surprised he was at being asked about his non-existent love life. "Wh-what! N-no, I didn't! I ne-never stayed in one place lo-long enough to get involved with a g-girl… Plus…oh, nev-nevermind. Just, no. Why?"

Jounouchi shrugged, looking amused at Bakura's reaction. "I don't know. Just wondering. You're a nice guy so it seemed fitting that you've had at least one girlfriend. Oh well. Guess not."

Yuugi rolled his eyes at this. "Jounouchi, you just want to talk about other people's love lives so that you don't have to think about your own."

Jounouchi turned to glare at the shorter boy. "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!"

At this Anzu spoke up. "Oh, Jounouchi, we all know you're still pinning over Mai. Honestly, Jounouchi, she's gone. Moved on to someone else. Get over it."

Now Anzu was the victim of Jounouchi's death glare. "I am so over Mai, Anzu! Honestly, it's not that big a deal! It was just…surprising is all."

Anzu rolled her eyes. "Sure, Jounouchi. Sure." Jounouchi glowered at her for a moment then stood and headed over to the lunch line, presumably to buy some cookies to take his mind off of what Anzu had said.

And poor Bakura was quite confused at this point, so he turned to Yuugi, Honda and Anzu to look for answers. "What was all that about? Who's Mai?"

"Kujyaku Mai. Jounouchi's ex-girlfriend. She dumped him about a month ago for someone else," Honda explained, pausing between words to stuff food into his mouth.

Bakura nodded, understanding in his eyes. "That's horrible. And Jounouchi still hasn't gotten over it yet?"

Yuugi gave Bakura a weak smile. "Well, I'm sure he would have gotten over it…if she hadn't dumped him for a girl."

Bakura's eyes widened and he stared at Yuugi in shock. "She did! Oh…wow. I bet…that must have been a real blow to Jounouchi's ego."

Anzu nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Oh, but that isn't even the half of it! The girl Mai dumped Jounouchi for…was his own sister, Shizuka! Of course, Shizuka didn't know that Mai had been dating Jounouchi or she most likely wouldn't have gotten with Mai to begin with. She greatly looks up to Jounouchi and wouldn't want to hurt him. But when she did find out, Jounouchi put on a good front and told her that if she was happy with Mai then he was all right with it. It was oddly mature of Jounouchi but typical. He loves Shizuka and wants to see her happy so…"

Bakura nodded, absorbing all this information. While it was strange and slightly humorous, Bakura felt a little…proud of Jounouchi. In the short time he'd known the blonde boy, Bakura wondered if there was ever a time he truly acted his age. It seemed as though there was. But that didn't stop Bakura from bursting out laughing when Jounouchi sat back down.

Bakura had to stifle his laughter into the next day of classes. Jounouchi kept shooting him angry glares from across the room as the teacher carried on with their lessons. This continued on until Bakura's dreaded subject. Mathematics. Algebra. The most heinous of all subjects as far as Bakura Ryou was concerned. It didn't help that today they were given a review worksheet to fill out for an upcoming test and Bakura had no clue what most of the questions required him to do.

So it made perfect sense that much later into the class, Bakura had only gotten through about five of the problems. He was just congratulating himself on another completed problem when an unexpected voice spoke next to him.

"You're doing it wrong."

Bakura started, jumping slightly in his seat and turned to face the person who had spoken, clutching his heart. It was none other than Atemu, the silent boy who hadn't spoken one word since Bakura arrived at Domino High. Not one word. Thusly, Bakura just stared at the boy, who stared back, a blank expression on his face. "Did…did you just say something?" Bakura asked, sure he must have been imagining it.

Atemu nodded. "Yes, I did. I told you that you did the problem wrong."

Bakura blinked at Atemu, awe struck. Atemu spoke. ATEMU SPOKE! The boy, who Yuugi, and everyone else for that matter, said had never spoken a word to any of them in years, had just spoken. To him! Bakura was so surprised that he almost didn't notice when Atemu spoke again.

"You did the equation wrong. It's really very simple. Here, I'll show you."

And with that, Atemu leaned over and explained exactly what Bakura had done wrong and how to correct it. He then let Bakura try the next problem on his own and Bakura was thrilled when Atemu smiled and nodded at him. "Yep, you got it," he said before turning back to his book.

Bakura stared at the boy sitting next to him for a moment before glancing down at his paper. It…it seemed a bit easier now that Atemu had actually explained to him what he was supposed to be doing. He tried another problem on his own as was thrilled to see that that it made sense. A smile etched onto his face, Bakura turned and smiled at Atemu. "Thank you," he said happily. Atemu just nodded and kept on reading while Bakura went back to his work.

Neither of them noticed Jounouchi Katsuya gapping at them from across the room.

_**end chapter two** _

* * *

…Ta-da? Atemu spoke and we got a mention of Mai and Shizuka. I decided to mention them both solely because I have no intention to introduce them into this story but wanted to acknowledge that they were there. So I did.

**Chapter Three:** Jounouchi and Honda are amazed that Bakura got Atemu to speak, and Bakura has a favor to ask Atemu…

Alice


	4. Chapter Three

**Title:** Paradox  
**Author:** Alice  
**Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh!  
**Spoilers:** None since this is AU!  
**Pairings: **Yami no Yuugi x Bakura Ryou. Side Jounouchi Katsuya x Mazaki Anzu and possibly others.  
**Summary:** Bakura Ryou was always an average student, until his mother got a new job that required their family to move constantly. As a result, Bakura fell behind. His luck might change when he begins school at Domino High and finds himself sitting next to boy genius, Atemu Yami.  
**Part:** 4?  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** Shounen-ai and language.  
**Recommended Listening:** None.  
**Disclaimer:** Yu-Gi-Oh! Is not owned by me. Unfortunately.  
**Author's Notes: **…I have an idea for a one-shot fic that would be a crossover with xxxHOLiC…and I really think I should do it. :D

* * *

**Paradox  
**_by Alice _

**chapter three **

"So how'd you do it, Bakura? How'd you get smart-boy to speak to you?"

Bakura shrugged as dug through his backpack in an attempt to locate his misplaced pen. "I don't know, Jounouchi. I was just doing my work and all of a sudden he told me I had done some things wrong and then he explained it to me and that was that. He didn't say anything after that." Bakura eyed Jounouchi over his backpack for a moment. "And I don't understand why it matters so much. It's not like the boy's mute."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes and leaned over the table to try and snatch some fries off of Honda's tray. The other boy gave Jounouchi a glare and the blonde backed off, scowling. "I don't know," he admitted. "I just think its weird…I've gone to school with him all my life and not once can I remember seeing him speak. And then, all of a sudden, you come along and he speaks. It's weird, ya' know?"

Another small shrug from the white haired boy was all Jounouchi received for a moment before Bakura straightened his back, dumping his backpack onto the floor at his feet, pen and paper in hand. "I suppose that would be weird to you, Jounouchi," Bakura stated, as he leaned for and began scribbling on the piece of paper. "But I still don't think it's a big deal."

"Bakura's right, Jounouchi," said Anzu, sitting down next to Bakura, setting her tray of food down in front of her. "It's not that big of a deal. No need to go all psycho over it."

"I'm not going psycho! I'm just saying its weird! Okay, are we clear?" Jounouchi said, exasperated, glaring at the girl. Anzu rolled her eyes and for once didn't say anything. She didn't have the chance to as Bakura spoke up once more.

"Jounouchi…Atemu doesn't come out the front doors after school. At least, I don't ever see him. Where does he leave the building, do you know?"

Jounouchi thought for a moment but before he could say anything, Honda spoke up. "He goes out the back entrance. I remember seeing him leave that way a few times. No clue why but that's where he goes. Why do you ask, Bakura?"

Yuugi had arrived at their table by now and sat next to Anzu, listening to the conversation. It had been Yuugi's idea that they all go out and just 'hang' for the day and he had also been the one to ask Bakura to join them. They had gone to the arcade first, at the insistence of Jounouchi and Honda, and now they were seated at the food court in the mall. Yuugi watched Bakura continue to scribble on his piece of paper for a moment before the other boy spoke.

"No reason, I was just wondering." And this of course was not entirely true. Ever since Atemu had explained what to do to Bakura early that day, Bakura had been thinking how easy it seemed after Atemu explained to him. He had though, perhaps, that Atemu maybe could help him just a bit more…but he wasn't quite ready to ask Atemu in front of everyone else. Jounouchi seemed to take great pleasure in mocking the boy and the others seemed to be less than interested in him. On top of that, Atemu was most obviously not social in any way, shape or form, and might not even talk to Bakura if others were watching. Which was why Bakura planned to catch him off guard after school one day and ask him. Soon, if time permitted and Bakura was able to make it to the back entrance in time to catch the shorter boy.

Bakura finished writing on his piece of paper and handed it to Jounouchi. "That's the address, phone number, and directions on how to get there," he said, smiling at the others.

"All right. Great! We'll all have to come visit you some time," Jounouchi said, handing the paper to Honda so he could look it over and copy it down or whatever it was Honda and the others did to remember things.

Bakura nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great." _But first I need to ask Atemu if he'll help me out…but when should I do that?  
_  
**About a week later…  
**Leaning against the back wall of Domino High, Bakura tried to regulate his breathing and pondered if he had ever run that fast before. If memory served him right, he had not. Bakura had sat on the edge of his seat waiting for the final bell to ring and once it did he bolted straight to his locker and piled everything into his backpack before continuing to run as fast as he could towards the back exit, all in the hopes of cutting Atemu off. From the looks of it, Bakura had failed. After waiting five minutes, Bakura still had seen no sign of Atemu.

"He probably already left before I got here. Or maybe he went out the front entrance and Jounouchi and Honda were wrong…"

"Do you always talk to yourself like that?"

With a startled cry, Bakura turned swiftly towards the door and saw Atemu standing there with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, Atemu! There you are, I was looking for you!"

Atemu stared at Bakura for a moment, taking a few steps forward as though he planned to walk on by Bakura without saying anything. "Why?"

Bakura twiddled his hands for a moment, gathering up his courage. "Well…last week, you helped me out in math class and I was wondering if maybe you'd be willing to…I dunno. Tutor me?"

That stare of Atemu's was starting to scare Bakura to no end. "What subjects?"

"Well, what classes do you and I have together?"

Atemu didn't even bother to respond to that question. The answer was obvious and Bakura felt silly that he had even asked. "Well, all of those classes I need help in."

"You need help in P.E?" Atemu asked, slowly, his gaze still on Bakura and still making the boy uneasy.

An embarrassed flush spread across Bakura's face and he bowed his head, hoping his hair would cover it. "No…I meant all academic courses."

"I should hope so," Atemu muttered, finally lowering his gaze the pavement, allowing Bakura to breathe easily for a moment. "So you want me to tutor you. On what days and for how long?"

Bakura thought for a moment, running over both his parents schedule in his head for a moment. "Um…how about after school Tuesdays and Thursdays for two hours each day, starting next week?"

Atemu nodded before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pen and a piece of paper. He tore that paper in half and scribbled something down on one-half. He handed that piece of paper to Bakura, who looked it over quickly. "That's my phone number. If you need me to change dates or times, just call me," Atemu explained, handing Bakura the pen and paper. "Address and phone number, please."

Bakura took the paper and pen from Atemu, jotting down the bit of information Atemu had requested. Then he handed the paper and pen back to Atemu, pocketing Atemu's phone number as he did. He stared at the shorter boy for a moment, a bit bewildered. "So just like that? You'll really tutor me for no money or…anything?"

Atemu looked thoughtfully at Bakura, pondering this over in his mind. "Well, I do not think you would come to me for help unless you desperately need it. And why should I charge you for something I would do volunteering if only I had the time? And this does not conflict with my established schedule so I see no reason why not. Is there any reason you thought I would not do it, Bakura?"

A fierce shake of the head was just the response Atemu seemed to have been looking for. He smiled at Bakura and muttered, "Next Tuesday, then," before turning and heading off, leaving Bakura standing stock still trying to understand what the hell Atemu had just said.

It took a few minutes of mulling things over that Bakura finally realized what had happened. At the same time, he also realized that he was supposed to have been home by then. So it made perfect sense that Bakura spent the next several minutes tearing through the streets of Domino, all sorts of scenarios running through his head. Most of them involved his father simply giving him a sad look and saying, "We were worried." Bakura did not, however, except to find his father looking almost angry and saying, "You should have told us you were having company today."

Bakura stared at his father, dumbstruck. "Company? What compa-" Bakura's voice died in his throat as he looked over his father's shoulder and saw Honda standing there waving. As he listened, Bakura could hear the faint murmur of voices coming from the other room. It seemed as though the whole gang had chosen that day to make an appearance at Bakura's humble abode. "It slipped my mind. Sorry, father," Bakura said sheepishly, slipping past his father to go join his friends. "What are you all doing here?" he asked Honda as he joined the other boy and they turned towards Bakura's room.

"Well, Yuugi suggested we drop by and surprise you today!" Honda explained, giving Bakura a strange look. "Where have you been, anyway?" he asked, eyeing the shorter boy.

"I got a bit lost," Bakura said automatically. "I'm still getting used to this city and got a bit confused on the way. Took a wrong turn somewhere along the way."

Honda laughed, patting Bakura on the head. "Ah, you'll get used to it eventually. It's not that hard…" They turned into Bakura's room and Honda leapt forward, pointing at Bakura. "Hey guys, look who finally decided to show up at his own house!"

Jounouchi snorted and sent a wave in Bakura's direction. Anzu smiled at him while Yuugi spoke, "Hey, Bakura! Um…I hope you don't mind us deciding to drop by today…you weren't doing anything important that we interrupted or anything, were you?"

Bakura shook his head, closing the door behind him. "No, nothing. I'm actually glad you guys came! This place has been a bit lonely with just me and dad around, mostly."

"What about your mom?" Anzu asked, giving Bakura a look of concern.

"She spends most of her time at work," Bakura explained, seating himself on the edge of his bed. "It's mostly just me and dad around the house." He was silent for a moment before giving the others a strange look. "Um…what do you guys want to do? Just drop by and go or…did you have something in mind?"

Bakura caught a mischievous glint in Jounouchi's eyes. "Well, actually, I was looking at some of your games over there – OW!" Anzu had whacked him over the head and hissed 'that's rude!' at him. "I was looking at your games over there and noticed something called Monster World. It looked interesting. What is it?"

His question was met with silence as Bakura stared at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, Bakura's lips pulled back into a grin.

**A few hours later…  
**"You guys didn't do too bad for your first time," Bakura said as he gathered up the lead miniatures used in the game and placed them gently back into the case he had made for them. "I'm impressed."

"But we lost," Jounouchi said, pouting.

Bakura shrugged as he placed the game board, miniatures case and his hand dandy calculator and status computer away on his game shelf. "But still, you guys did very well. I remember I was so confused the first time I played. I'm surprised you guys made it as far as you did."

Before anyone could say another word there was a short knock on the door of Bakura's room. Bakura glanced up at it for a moment before calling, "Come in."

The door was pushed open and a woman entered the room. She looked to be quite young, maybe in her early thirties, and had long brown hair that was pulled over her shoulder in a ponytail. Her eyes were the same olive green as Bakura's were. The most notable thing about this woman, though, was that she was in a wheelchair. She gave them all a gentle smile as she entered and raised her hand in a small wave. "Hello, there. You must be Ryou's friends. I'm Bakura Akane, Ryou's mother. Please to meet you."

Bakura watched as his friends all bowed in respect before his mother, all of them smiling kindly at her. "Are any of you hungry?" his mother asked, tilting her head to the side inquisitively. They all shook their heads. "Oh, that's fine." She turned her attention to Bakura, her smile widening. "And how are you today, dear?"

Bakura smiled at her. "I'm fine. You?"

"Oh, I'm getting along," she replied, looking a bit downcast. "Do you need anything?" she asked, glancing around at his friends once more. Bakura shook his head. His mother smiled at him. "All right then. I'll leave you kids alone." With that she turned and wheeled herself out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Bakura watched her go, looking quite sad now. The others turned to him, all looking a bit worried. "Your mom seems nice," Anzu said finally. The others were quick to agree.

"Yeah…I know," Bakura said, seating himself on the edge of his bed once more. "She's just been having a difficult time lately…when I was five…my mom and my sister, Amane, were in a car crash. Drunk driver his them. Amane…she died and my mom was paralyzed from the waist down. She was all right, though. Still able to move around just fine. It's only been lately that it's really started to…slow her down."

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that, Bakura," Yuugi said, staring at the ground sadly. The others nodded, muttering their own apologies. Bakura just smiled at them.

"It's all right. It's not like it's your fault! Now, how about another game, then?"

_**end chapter three**  
_

* * *

I had a lot of trouble with this chapter because I knew what I wanted to do but wasn't quite sure how to approach it. I guess this'll do. Anyway, I'm not sure when the next update will be because I am going on vacation next Saturday. I may bring my grandfather's laptop to give me something to do...but we'll see. I also may take some time to work on my one-shot crossover with xxxHOLiC, which will be Yami no Yuugi x Bakura Ryou, done in canon verse. Kind of. Sort of alternate events but still set in the canon world. Anyway... 

**Chapter Four: **It's the first day of Bakura's tutor sessions with Atemu but…something seems to be missing…

Alice


	5. Chapter Four

**Title:** Paradox  
**Author:** Alice  
**Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh!  
**Spoilers:** None since this is AU!  
**Pairings: **Yami no Yuugi x Bakura Ryou. Side Jounouchi Katsuya x Mazaki Anzu and possibly others.  
**Summary:** Bakura Ryou was always an average student, until his mother got a new job that required their family to move constantly. As a result, Bakura fell behind. His luck might change when he begins school at Domino High and finds himself sitting next to boy genius, Atemu Yami.  
**Part:** 4/?  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** Shounen-ai and language.  
**Recommended Listening:** None.  
**Disclaimer:** Yu-Gi-Oh! is owned by Kazuki Takahashi.  
**Author's Notes: **Alice lives. Several months later I finally have come back to post again. I am so, so sorry for the delay! Like I told you all previously, I went to Puerto Rico and while I was there…I sort of lost my inspiration. And then I went to Otakon and got interested in Fullmetal Alchemist. And sadly, I couldn't remember what I was planning for this chapter. And then, when I finally remember…I didn't have time to type this chapter up. High school is a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be. . But Alice is back with more! I would like to extent a huge thank you to all of my lovely reviewers! Thank you guys so much for the encouragement and kind words. I'm glad you guys like the story so far and you guys think I pulled off the characters well! You guys have no idea how happy that makes me. I was really worried starting this fic off, thinking I was going to do a horrible job and butcher the characters. So I'm glad people like it. I hope you all continue reading, reviewing, and that I don't disappoint you. This chapter may be a bit of a let down because, since I haven't written in almost five months, I fear that I may have gotten out of touch with the characters. Hopefully that won't last long and it won't be nearly as bad as I think. Anyway…I apologize for my rambling. You've waited long enough, you shall wait no more! I hope you enjoy my lovely chapter of my lovely fic!

* * *

**Paradox  
**by Alice Midnight

_chapter four _

Time was a strange and confusing thing to Bakura Ryou. There were moments in his life that seemed to drag on forever and other times that seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. In the instance where the hands on the clocked seemed to have stopped moving, Bakura would generally sit and stare blankly forward and muse over various topics that were going on in his life at that time. In the later occasion, when time flew by like a bird, Bakura would find himself wondering simply where the time had gone. Bakura Ryou was also like most people in the world in the sense that in his lifetime all the moments that he wished would end quickly seemed to go on forever and the times that he wished would never end seemed to never last nearly long enough.

And that was why the week waiting for his first tutoring lesson with Atemu seemed to drag on forever in poor Bakura's mind. The hours sitting in class felt like an eternity and at night, when he tried to sleep, he instead would toss and turn uneasily, anxious. The idea that Atemu wouldn't be able to help him improve his wonderfully bad grade-point average was a terrifying one indeed. Bakura knew, he _knew_, that he couldn't afford to fail at school. His future depended on it. And his future was everything. And Atemu was, quite possibly, his only hope at success. Bakura was still tragically behind in all his classes and that, simply, was unacceptable. Unfortunately, time was clearly rebelling against the poor boy and made the days go on for far longer than they should have. Although, Bakura was under the impression that time was only a figment of the mind and that it was neither fast nor slow but that was a minor technicality and easily ignored.

However, no matter how long a day, an hour, a minute seems to drag on at some point it will end and the wait will be over and whatever it is you were waiting for will finally be within your grasp! Unfortunately for Bakura, that didn't seem to be happening at all as Tuesday refused to come and Monday seemed to not want to end.

"Bakura, you look stressed. Is something the matter?" Anzu's gentle voice drifted down to Bakura's ears but his mind didn't seem to register them. His arms were folded on top of the cafeteria table and his face was buried into the folds of his arms, his white hair cascading down around him. He shook his head left to right in a slight acknowledgement to Anzu's question but did not answer her. Anzu's blue eyes narrowed slightly and she leaned across the table to gently prod Bakura with the tip of her fork. "Bakura? Are you alright?" she tried again, raising her voice slightly. Bakura jerked upright and the fork assault and blinked, wide-eyed at Anzu for a minute before nodding slowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just…I'm just worried about school. I'm not doing to well and I really need to turn my grades around," Bakura said, looking down at the empty table. Jounouchi and Honda had received lunch detention and Yuugi, being the kind hearted soul that he was, had offered to join them in mopping the lobby floors. Bakura's heart went out to his friends, those poor unfortunate souls. The Domino High School lobby was a death trap in disguise. Bakura was sure that hidden under the caked up grime and dirt on the floor was a trap door that would lead to a torture chamber below the school. He'd had several disturbing dreams about being dragged down there the first few weeks of school. Luckily, those dreams had passed and he was now into dreaming about Jounouchi being dragged down instead. Bakura, of course, would never voice these dreams aloud to his friends but he couldn't help but wonder in that moment if Jounouchi would ever return from this dreaded detention or if the floor would swallow him whole. And would it take Honda and Yuugi with him? Ah, well, that was another story entirely.

And unfortunately for Bakura, his attempt at changing the topic inside his own head from his academic failure to Jounouchi's death-by-floor failed miserably due to Anzu reaching over and patting his arm and overall doing everything in her power to make Bakura unable to forget. "Don't worry Bakura; you haven't been here that long. You'll catch up soon! And if you ever need any help, Yuugi, Honda, Jounouchi, and I are all here to help you."

Bakura smiled at the girl softly, shaking his head. "I know, and thanks for that but I don't think you guys will be able to help me out much. I'm too far behind. Don't worry, though," Bakura added quickly when he saw the worried look in Anzu's eyes, "I'm getting some help with my work." He shot Anzu another bright smile and returned her gesture by patting her arm. "You're right, I'll be fine. I just gotta relax, I think. Though…I really appreciate you guys being there for me. I've never…had anyone say that to me before…" Bakura trailed off, his brow furrowing at the realization that what he was saying was, in fact, true. Besides his own parents, and long ago, Amane, no one had ever been able to look Bakura Ryou in the eyes and tell him that they would be there for him when he needed a shoulder to cry, someone to comfort him, to help him. Now, though, Anzu had more or less said that very statement, though in much fewer words and with a less impressive vocabulary. This realization caused Bakura to temporarily lapse into silence as he pondered what exactly this meant. In the end, though, the answer was obvious.

Bakura Ryou had friends. Real, wholesome, honest friends. Friends who cared about him, would have his back, would support him…do all the things Bakura knew friends were supposed to do but had never had the chance to experience before. Until Bakura had started at Domino High, the only friends he ever had were his own parents. Once upon a dream, Amane had been his best friend, but that time was long past and since her death Bakura had been unable to find a single real friend to stay by his side. The fact that Bakura moved around a lot didn't help matters. On the rare occasion Bakura would make a friend that he thought he could keep for life, his family would of course have to move soon after, and Bakura would find himself alone once more. This time, however, it seemed that would not be the case. Bakura…he liked it in Domino. He liked the city, the school, and his new friends and for the first time, he had the reassurance that he wouldn't be unjustly torn away from them at any given moment. And they cared about him in return, or at least they acted like they did. If in the end, it was all an act and they truthfully loathed Bakura's very being, Bakura would at least treasure the fact that he had at least been given those few weeks of happiness.

"Well, we're glad to be here, Bakura," Anzu said happily, placing her hand over top of his on top of the table. "We really want you to know that we consider you one of us now. It feels like you've always been here with us…you just fit." She closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath. "I know…I just know that with us…in this place, is where you're supposed to be. I just know it. I hope you feel the same… I hope you feel like you belong here with us."

Anzu peered at Bakura through half-lidded eyes and her eyes glistened happily at his smile. "Thank goodness," he said softly, "'because I was just thinking the same thing."

* * *

Bakura Ryou was never one to panic. He was the type of person to always try and come up with an alternative plan, idea, motive and he tended to look on the happier side of things. His father referred to it as always searching for the silver lining. Even in a dire situation, Bakura always did his best to remain calm, cool, and collected. And that was why when he arrived at school Tuesday morning to find Atemu Yami not present Bakura did his best not to overreact. He figured that Atemu probably had his reasons for being late, strange as they may have been. Fortunately for Bakura, as the hours dragged on without any sign of the spiky-haired, red eyed genius with the not-so-geeky glasses entering the classroom and Bakura found himself growing more and more anxious, he learned that he was good at concealing his nervousness. After the first class was over, when any other student would have kept sending glances out the window to see if he could spot the star-shaped head of Atemu, Bakura just continued to stare at the front of the room. And after their second class concluded, when any other student would have been chewing violently on the eraser of their pencil, Bakura simply sat and picked eraser shavings off his desk. And by the time lunch rolled around the shorter boy still had not shown up, when any other student would have been tearing their hair out in pure agony and screaming to the Gods above in rage, Bakura simply ate his food and listened intently as Jounouchi recounted a strange dream he'd had the night before about being devoured by the floor.

And at the end of the school day, as Bakura made his way home alone he found himself shaking physically. "Shit," he whispered, mentally berating himself for his use of a swear. "I can't believe he didn't come to school…hopefully he left a message for me telling me why he didn't…or maybe he just forgot?" It was true that Bakura hadn't mentioned their upcoming lesson to Atemu once since the arrangement had first been made but Atemu struck Bakura as the type of person to keep his word so he felt there was no reason to remind him. Now, though, Bakura severely wished he had. The obvious reason, of course, was that perhaps Atemu was sick but according to Jounouchi, Atemu had only ever missed school once and it was not due to illness. Atemu had come to school even if he was sweating and pucking every few minutes. With that knowledge in mind, it occurred to Bakura that whatever kept Atemu from gracing Domino High with his presence on that particular day must have been something major. "Maybe someone died," Bakura muttered, his green eyes turned down to the pavement under his feet.

Bakura soon found himself confused and somewhat worried, however, when he reached his house to find no message for him on the machine. And when he asked his father if anyone had called for him, he was highly disappointed to find out that no one had called all day. With a sad sigh and a distant look in his eyes, Bakura made his way to his bedroom and dropped his book bag down at the foot of his bed and flung himself onto the mattress. "Uggh," he informed his pillow dully. "Not good day," he said without any elaboration. Bakura pushed himself up and glanced around his room lazily. "I can't believe he didn't come…or at least call to let me know why. I guess, maybe, someone really did die and he just didn't think about it? I hope so. Well, no, I don't hope someone died but that Atemu just has a good reason for not showing…" Bakura trailed off lamely, blinking slowly. "Um…I'm talking to a pillow about my problems. I must be a sort of loser."

A sigh escaped the boy's lips as he slid off the edge of his bed and crouched on the floor next to it, pondering what to do next. He quickly decided that it as in his best interest to take a stab at his homework and hope that maybe, by some strange luck, Atemu would show up or the knowledge he required would magically appear in his brain.

It wasn't until very late that night when Bakura was still up trying to finish his work, alone, that he realized that neither of those things had happened. This was most unfortunate for Bakura. More than that, though, it left Bakura with a strange…almost unexplainable feeling inside. It felt a bit as though his dreams were slowly dissolving down around him. After all, hadn't he been mentally cheering the day before over how his life was finally turning around? He had friends and he had a means to finally making his grades go up but here he was, alone and confused, without a clue as to why this turn of events had occurred. If Atemu couldn't help Bakura, who could? Any why on Earth had Atemu not let Bakura know he wasn't coming? And Atemu had seemed so polite, too, that Bakura found it strange that he didn't have the common decency to let Bakura know why he wasn't there. Given, as Bakura already mentally established earlier, there was the possibility that someone had died or some other great tragedy had occurred but until that was confirmed for him, he couldn't help but feeling a tad angry.

A little bit of help was all he needed. A little bit…no, wait that was a lie and Bakura knew that. He needed a lot of help to catch up. He needed a lot of help making everything he had to do in class make sense. He needed help pushing his D's up to A's. And for that, Bakura needed Atemu. And the one thing that was missing in that moment was none other than Atemu. And as the night wore on and Bakura spent hours working on one problem at a time, he found himself wondering how exactly he was going to get around this new dilemma if Atemu couldn't help him at all.

_end chapter four_

* * *

Oh God, that was a horrible chapter. buries face in hands Horrible, horrible. I kept repeating myself over and over again, especially at the end. Ah, but what can I do? This was written at 2:00 A.M after all and like I said before, this chapter may seem a bit odd because I'm getting back into the mood to write the characters and fics in general. It's coming along nicely, though. I really got into this chapter, especially the beginning, which is why I think it came out better than the second half. sigh Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to get out and will be longer. I'll be working on it a lot harder and longer and I actually have more to do with it. This chapter was more or less a filler in a way. Anyway…I hope you enjoyed and didn't think it was too horrible. Like I do. ;-;

**Next chapter: **_Let's try this tutoring thing again, shall we? This time Atemu may actually show up: glasses and all. _

Alice


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